Management of some cyber-physical systems involves both human-operated and computer-based systems. For example, consider a water management system configured to delivering water to a large population. In this example, a human manager is responsible for allocating financial resources to maintain and/or improve the water management system's ability to provide water to the right customers at the right time. To acquire data for making allocation decisions, such a manager relies on various automated systems such as embedded computing systems, supervisory control systems, and communication systems.
Some cyber-physical systems can be vulnerable to sabotage, human or natural. For example, software that controls the communication systems of the water management system may be hijacked by a malicious actor. Such a hijacking could prove catastrophic to the water management system and its customers by disrupting the smooth distribution of water to the intended recipients. Conventional approaches to preventing sabotage of cyber-physical systems may not be sufficient for preventing such attacks.